New Mom Katinka Hosszu Entered In Hungarian National Championships

2024 HUNGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 9th – Friday, April 12th
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• Prelims at 9am local (3am ET), Finals at 5pm local (11am ET)
• SwimSwam Preview #1
• Start Lists/Results
• Livestream (Prelims)

While we knew that world record holder Kristof Milak was set to make his comeback debut at next week’s Hungarian National Championships, another significant athlete will also be making her return.

Not originally on the draft entries, Olympic multi-champion Katinka Hosszu now appears to be racing at Duna Arena.

Hosszu is scheduled to take on the 200m IM, 400m IM and 100m fly events, the former two of which she struck gold at the 2016 Olympic Games.

The 34-year-old has been on a competitive hiatus with the 5-time Olympian’s last official swim meet represented by the 2022 European Championships.

There she went 2:14.37 in the 200 IM and 4:45.07 in the 400 IM. Her lifetime bests in the 200 IM and 400 IM are 2:06.12 (current world record) and 4:26.36 (former world record, broken by Summer McIntosh in April), respectively.

In June of 2022, Hosszu said she would likely bypass the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris since she planned on having a baby with her fiancee Máté Gelencsér before then. According to plan, she announced her pregnancy in March of 2023 and gave birth last August.

However, she changed her Olympic tune last December, saying she was getting back to training 2-3 hours a day with eyes on Paris after all.

• New Mom Katinka Hosszu, 34, Returns To Training with Goal of Making 6th Olympics in Paris

It’s important to note that these Hungarian National Championships are not the sole qualifying opportunity for the country’s athletes. Swimmers can nab qualifying times at approved competitions through the June 23rd window. That means even if she uses these Championships as a tune-up and check-in on her progress, there would still be time to capture a Paris-worthy time thereafter.

Regardless, Hosszu is one of the most successful female athletes ever to dive into a swimming pool.  She owns 96 medals, which come from the Olympic Games, the long and short-course World Championships, and the long and short-course European Championships.